Document information

Physical location:

R61/1019, unit 749, VPRS 1189/P inward registered correspondence, VA 475 Chief Secretary's Department, Public Record Office, Victoria. 61.02.05

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Richard Heales, 1861-02-05. R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt and Monika Wells (eds), Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, <https://vmcp.rbg.vic.gov.au/id//letters/1860-9/1861/61-02-05-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026

Melbourne botanic & zoologic Garden,
5 Febr. 1861.
Sir
I have the honor to return to you the enclosed documents,
1
In the Legislative Assembly of the Victorian Parliament on 18 January 1861, in answer to a question the Chief Secretary, Richard Heales, said that the 'usual vote for the extermination of the thistles was omitted, and for the reason that no real good had arisen from this expenditure'. Another member 'was sure it would be of great service to the members of the Government if they inquired the opinion of the Government botanist respecting the proper season to destroy thistles. … Much of the money was wasted from being spent at an improper season' ('Bathurst Burr and Thistle', Argus, 19 June 1861, p. 6).
On 24 January 1861, the Secretary for the Board of Agriculture wrote to the President of the Board of Land & Works, Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey, J. Brooke: 'I have the honor to transmit to you a Resolution passed at a special meeting of the Council of this Board of Agriculture held this day and to request that you will be so good as to take the same into your immediate consideration. Proposed by Dr Macadam | Seconded by Mr Selwyn Resolved That the Secretary be instructed to communicate with the Hon the President of the Board of Lands and Survey the earnest recommendation of the Council of the Board of Agriculture that the Thistle Vote should be maintained as an item of national expenditure, and that the Council will if desired, place its services at the command of the Government to assist in expending the Vote in the most advantageous manner.'
The Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey, C. Hodgkinson, minuted on 25 January: 'Should the Govt decide on placing on the Estimates for the current year any sum for eradication of thistles, I believe the Council of the Board of Agriculture would be the best body to have the control of the expenditure of such a sum'.
The matter was referred to the Chief Secretary, R. Heales, who referred it to M for a report on 2 February: '1. as to the advantage (if any) to be derived from the present mode of expending say £10,000 a year on the extirpation of Thistles | 2. Is it true that they are fast dying out and that from this cause they will cease to be a nuisance | 3 What remedy he would suggest to extirpate the Thistle'.
received by me only this day, and on which I beg to submit the following opinions.
In reply to your first question, "as to the advantage to be derived from the present mode of expending £10,000 on the extirpation of thistles" I beg to remark, that unless the growth of the thistles becomes methodically checked, their number will year after year be vastly increasing until it may finally
2
be omitted by M.
almost beyond possibility to arrest the progress of these weeds.
In reference to your second question: "whether it is true, that they are fast dying out and that from this cause they will cease to be a nuisance", I beg to observe, that having travelled this season only through some of the eastern parts of the colony, I cannot state from personal observation, whether the measures adopted by the Board of Agriculture to eradicate the thistles in Victoria have been effectual; but as the Bathurst Burr is only of annual duration, and since the other thistles, which have spread as yet over Victoria, are only of biennial life, their growth could be materially surpressed
3
suppressed?
by preventing the latter for two years and the Bathurst Burr during one year to shed their seeds, altho' thereby not at once the entire annihilation of these plants could be effected, in as much as some scattered seeds may remain dormant in the ground for several years.
In reply to your third question: "what remedy could be suggested to extirpate the thistles" I beg to express my opinion, that not only the thistle act should be rigorously enforced, but also that this should be done precisely at that time, when in the various districts the thistles and burrs are forming their flowers. To effect this satisfactorily I would recommend the cutting of thistles on the crownlands by tender, limiting the work to that period, when it alone can be effective. To destroy these plants there seems however no method available less costly and tedious, than cutting them individually by manual labour.
I have the honor to be,
Sir,
your most obedient and humble servant
Ferd. Mueller,
Gov. Botanist
The honorable the Chief Secretary
&c&c&c
4
Annotated by Heales, 9 February 1861: 'Read'.